Jude Bellingham had a point to prove. The 22-year-old, whose place in England’s starting XI had been the subject of intense debate before the World Cup, silenced the doubters with a decisive third goal in a 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas. “I think I’ve got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, haven’t I?” he said with a smile after the match, acknowledging that the external “noise” around his selection had fuelled his performance.
Bellingham was chosen by Thomas Tuchel ahead of Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers for the number 10 role behind captain Harry Kane, and he repaid that faith by collecting Elliot Anderson’s pass, cutting infield, and sliding a low shot into the far corner just after half-time. It was the goal that put England ahead for the third time in a thriller, after they had twice surrendered a one-goal lead. Marcus Rashford added a fourth late on, with Kane having scored a double.
“Jude Bellingham scores decisive third goal as England beat Croatia 4-2, after silencing pre-tournament doubts.”
“It was nice to put some of the noise aside and just show my country and my team-mates how committed I am to help us try to win football matches,” Bellingham told BBC Sport. “To contribute, to help my team and help my country is one of the biggest honours and regardless of the noise outside, that honour doesn’t change for me at all.”
Among those watching was former Germany international Dietmar Hamann, who admitted he had changed his mind about the Real Madrid midfielder. “I saw him for Dortmund for a couple of seasons, and some of the things he did I didn’t like at all,” Hamann said on RTE. “But tonight he looked like a team player. When he does play for the team, when he does work for his team-mates, we know he’s an excellent player.”
Bellingham, appearing in his fourth consecutive major tournament, conceded it had been “a bit of a tougher season for me”, with the start of his campaign disrupted by injury and his club side in Spain finishing eight points behind Barcelona. Yet he said he felt “fresh and sharp” heading into the tournament, and was buoyed by comments from colleagues such as Jordan Henderson, who described him as England’s “X-factor”.
In a World Cup opener that had been dominated by questions over Tuchel’s team selection, Bellingham delivered a performance that reminded everyone what he is about. “Sometimes I do deserve the bad things people say,” he said. “Today, it was nice to try to show people and remind people what I’m about.”